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Photo  Retouching 


Instruction  in  Handling 
Mechanical  and  Pictorial 
Photographs,  Back- 
grounds, Opaque  Blend- 
ing and  the  Use  and  Care 
of  Air  Brushes 

Meyer  Both  Company 

Department  of  Art  Instruction 
CHICAGO  ILLINOIS 


COPYRIGHT,  1922 

By  W.  C.  BOTH 

CHICAGO,  ILL. 


Series  C 


Page  One 


PHOTO-RETOUCHING 


Introduction 

The  increasing  use  of  retouched  photos  as 
mechanical  illustrations  in  advertising  has  made 
photo- retouching  a most  important  department  of 
commercial  art  principally  because  it  is  an  econom- 
ical method  and  also  because  it  gives  an  accurate 
and  reliable  representation  of  the  object.  It  is 
less  expensive  to  photograph  an  elaborate  subject 
with  small  details  than  to  make  a drawing  of  it, 
and  a photograph  usually  presents  a more  realistic 
representation  of  a complicated  and  intricate 
object  than  could  be  obtained  by  a wash  drawing. 
It  is  generally  found  necessary  to  call  in  the  aid 
of  the  photo-retoucher,  however,  in  order  to 
strengthen  uncertain  details,  eliminate  unnecessa- 
ries, improve  light  and  shade,  smooth  rough  sur- 
faces and  remove  blemishes. 

In  order  that  the  term  “photo  retouching”  may 
be  perfectly  understood,/  we  will  state  that  the 
retouching  referred  to  is  the  retouching  of  pho- 
tographic prints  and  not  the  retouching  of 
negatives,  which  is  an  entirely  different  matter. 
The  photographic  negative  is  a glass  plate  coated 
on  one  side  with  an  emulsion  on  which  the  photo- 
graphic image  is  impressed  by  the  action  of  light. 
The  retouching  of  this  negative  is  done  by  an 
artist  who  is  called  a retoucher.  This  work  is 
done  on  the  negative  in  the  photograph  gallery 
before  the  print  is  made,  and  is  a class  of  work  that 
is  handled  by  the  photographer,  rather  than  by 
an  art  department.  So  the  student  will  understand 
that  the  term,  photo-retouching,  refers  to  the  re- 
touching of  photographic  prints  or  positives,  and 
not  to  the  retouching  of  the  negatives  from  which 
the  prints  are  made.  The  camera  has  a way,  some- 
times, of  bringing  out  undesirable  matters,  and 
even  exaggerating  them  Hence  the  retoucher 
generally  has  considerable  work  to  perform  on  the 
photographic  print,  especially  if  it  is  made  from  a 
negative  of  average  or  mediocre  quality.  In  some 
cases  where  a photograph  is  of  excellent  quality, 
and  brings  out  naturally  and  distinctly  the  various 
points  desired  by  the  advertiser,  it  may  not  be 
desirable  to  do  any  retouching,  except,  possibly, 
for  adding,  what  is  known  as,  the  vignette,  the 
meaning  of  which  will  be  explained  later. 

The  student  must  bear  in  mind  that  retouching 
must  be  done  very  carefully,  using  color  to  match 
the  tone  or  color  of  the  photograph  and  causing 
the  retouching  to  appear  as  natural  and  life-like 
as  the  photo  itself.  When  the  retouched  photo- 
graph is  reproduced  by  any  process  of  photo- 
reproduction, the  execution  of  the  retouching 
should  not  be  noticeable,  but  should  appear  as 
photographic  as  the  remainder  of  the  photo. 

It  is  possible  for  the  photo-retoucher,  by  keeping 


in  mind  his  sense  of  the  beautiful  and  artistic,  and 
the  principles  of  line  and  composition  as  explained 
elsewhere,  to  considerably  improve  the  appearance 
of  the  photograph  and  add  those  little  touches  of 
art  which  mark  the  difference  between  the  com- 
monplace and  the  refined. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  most  of  the  artistic 
effect  of  a photographic  illustration  is  placed  there 
by  the  retoucher,  although  much  can  be  accom- 
plished in  the  first  place,  by  a proper  posing  of 
the  subject  before  the  camera,  especially  a figure 
subject. 

From  the  previous  remarks,  the  student  can 
readily  see  that  the  main  objects  of  good  photo- 
retouching are,  to  bring  out  details  more  clearly, 
to  improve  the  value  of  tones,  which  in  this  case 
generally  means  increasing  the  contrasts — that  is, 
making  the  dark  parts  darker  and  the  light  parts 
lighter  (although  considerable  judgment  and  dis- 
cretion must  be  used  in  this)  and  improving  the 
artistic  appearance  of  the  photograph  generally. 

After  the  details  of  a photograph  have  been 
worked  up,  and  the  tone  values  improved,  some 
attention  must  be  paid  to  the  background;  by 
referring  to  Chart  1,  accompanying  this  section, 
the  student  may  see  the  various  styles  of  back- 
ground treatment.  They  consist  of  outline,  out- 
line and  vignette,  full  vignette,  snappy  vignette,  square 
finish,  and  outline  top  and  square  at  bottom. 

Outline  is  accomplished  by  painting  out  the 
background  very  carefully  with  white,  right  up 
to  the  edge  of  the  subject,  thereby  allowing  the 
illustration  to  stand  out  clearly,  sharply  and  dis- 
tinctly. 

Outline  and  vignette  means  to  be  partly  outlined 
as  just  explained,  and  the  remainder  to  be  grad- 
ually softened  and  blended  into  the  white  back- 
ground. This  is  generally  accomplished  in  a very 
smooth  manner  by  means  of  the  air  brush,  the 
operation  of  which  will  be  explained  later,  but  at 
present  will  be  accomplished  free  hand  by  means  of 
the  brush. 

Full  Vignette  means  to  shade  off  the  entire  back- 
ground softly  into  the  white,  which,  of  course, 
means  the  white  paper  on  which  the  reproduction 
will  be  printed. 

Snappy  Vignette  means  to  outline  portions  of  the 
vignette  in  a snappy,  artistic  way,  which  will 
depend  largely  on  the  individuality  of  the  artist, 
and  afterward  softening  those  outlined  portions, 
so  as  to  blend  into  the  background,  but  in  such 
a way  as  to  leave  a sharp  edge  to  the  vignette. 
This  style  of  vignette  will  be  easily  understood 
from  the  illustration  on  the  accompanying  chart 
and  is  more  easily  printed  than  the  very  soft 
vignette. 


Page  Two 


Square  finish  means  that  the  photograph  will 
have  the  original  background  left  in  as  it  is,  with- 
out any  outlining  or  vignetting. 

Outline  top  and  square  at  bottom,  will  be  readily 
understood  from  the  chart,  as  having  the  upper 
portion  of  the  picture  outlined  in  white  and  the 
lower  part  left  with  the  square  finish.  These 
descriptive  terms  are  not  only  used  in  retouching 
photographs,  but  are  used  considerably  in  describ- 
ing the  treatment  of  most  illustrative  matter; 
hence  it  is  important  that  the  student  b ecome 
accustomed  to  these  terms  and  thoroughly  under- 
stand them. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  considerable  judg- 
ment should  be  used  in  selecting  the  style  of 
background  for  certain  subjects;  for  instance, 
a photograph  to  be  used  for  a cover  illustration 
or  frontispiece,  could  be  handled  in  a more  snappy, 
vigorous  fashion  than  one  intended  for  the  inside 
pages  of  a catalog  or  book. 

A cover  illustration  or  a frontispiece  is  generally 
made  forcibly  attractive,  in  order  to  command 
so  much  attention  that  one  will  not  fail  to  turn  to 
the  inside  pages  of  the  book  and  peruse  its  contents. 
The  illustrations  on  the  inside  should  be  so  well 
detailed  and  pictorially  presented  that  one  cannot 
fail  to  be  impressed  with  the  good  points 
of  the  articles  that  are  being  advertised.  The 
object  of  advertising  is  to  sell  goods;  the  student 
must  therefore  bear  in  mind  that  the  emphasizing 
of  the  selling  points  of  the  article  being  advertised, 
by  good,  intelligent  retouching  and  art  work,  is  the 
main  object  to  be  attained  by  the  artist. 

It  is  really  surprising  to  see  what  wonderful 
results  can  be  accomplished  by  good  retouching. 
A very  ordinary  looking  photograph  can,  by  skill- 
ful treatment,  be  turned  into  a most  attractive 
advertising  illustration,  full  of  interest  and  com- 
mercial value. 

Vignetting,  as  previously  referred  to,  is  used  for 
many  purposes.  In  retouching  the  photograph  of  a 
machine,  a portion  of  the  floor  on  which  the  object 
stands  is  generally  drawn  and  softly  vignetted, 
and  frequently  a little  softly  vignetted  background 
is  used,  giving  a pleasant  effect,  and  very  often 
emphasizing  a portion  of  the  machine. 

1'he  background  of  a portrait  is  generally  vig- 
netted, being  usually  worked  up  dark  against  the 
light  side  of  the  face  and  light  against  the  dark 
side  to  increase  contrast.  The  various  tones  are 
blended  together  in  a pleasing  artistic  manner, 
which  may  be  easily  acquired  with  a little  practice. 
Vignetting  gives  a light,  airy  effect  to  the  work, 
and  removes  that  heavy  and  set  appearance  which 
is  so  undesirable.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
photo-retouching  requires  a great  deal  of  fine, 
careful  work,  for  all  details  must  be  worked  up 


so  that  they  are  clear  and  natural-looking.  The 
retoucher  must  learn  to  accomplish  his  work  with 
the  finest  touch  and  truest  accuracy;  all  lines  and 
edges  must  be  absolutely  sharp  and  clean;  all 
tones  evenly  distributed,  and  all  blending  done 
smoothly  and  well.  The  student  must  be  patient 
and  learn  to  do  the  work  thoroughly  and  very 
carefully,  disregarding,  at  the  present  time,  the 
question  of  the  amount  of  time  necessary  to  com- 
plete the  work. 

The  main  point  at  first  is  to  produce  good,  care- 
ful work,  and  when  that  is  accomplished,  the  ques- 
tion of  speed  may  be  considered.  Speed  without 
quality  means  nothing  in  first-class  photo-retouch- 
ing. The  instructions  telling  what  retouching  is 
required  to  be  done  to  the  photograph,  are  gener- 
ally given  to  the  artist  by  the  foreman  of  the  art 
department.  He  receives  them  from  the  salesman, 
who  has  already  made  himself  acquainted  with 
the  desires  of  the  advertiser.  Should  the  artist  be 
working  for  the  advertiser  directly,  he  must  be 
thoroughly  posted  on  the  various  points  that 
should  be  brought  out  strongly,  and  be  sure  that  he 
understands  instructions  and  follows  them  exactly. 

The  student  is  furnished  a combination  straight 
edge  and  hand  rest,  used  to  raise  the  hand  above 
the  work,  so  that  the  wet  color  used  in  retouching 
the  photo  will  not  be  smeared  or  damaged  by  the 
hand  in  working  on  other  parts  of  the  subject. 


This  illustration  shows  how  the  hand  rest  can  be 
used  to  draw  straight  lines  in  color  with  the  brush, 
it  being  a very  convenient  way  of  drawing  straight 
brush  strokes  for  lines  or  for  free-hand  brush  shad- 
ing on  straight  surfaces.  The  student  has  also 
received  a T square  and  a triangle  known  as  a 
30°  by  60°  triangle,  which  will  be  of  great  service. 
We  will  now  mention  the  colors  used  in  photo 
retouching  and  describe  the  methods  of  mixing 
them. 

Matching  of  Tones 

The  majority  of  prints  turned  into  the  art 
department  for  retouching  are  generally  black  in 
color.  These  prints  are  made  on  Velox,  Azo, 
Cyko,  etc.,  being  known  in  the  photographic 
business  as  "developing  out"  papers,  or  papers  on 
which  no  image  is  visible  until  developed.  Occa- 
sionally prints  of  a brownish  and  others  of  a 
reddish  color  are  brought  in,  but  in  most  cases  they 


Page  Three 


are  black,  as  before  stated.  Consequently,  the  tone 
values  of  the  black  prints  being  black,  gray  and 
white,  we  must  use  color  to  match  these  tone 
values.  Our  colors,  therefore,  will  be  Lamp  Black, 
White,  Retouch  Brown  and  Yellow  Ochre,  or  some 
similar  warm  color.  We  must  use  a little  Yellow 
Ochre  to  warm  up  the  grays  we  mix  otherwise 
they  will  be  somewhat  bluish  and  too  cold  in  tone. 
You  will  notice  that  the  grays  in  a black  and  white 
photograph  are  generally  slightly  warmish  in 
tone,  and  not  bluish.  The  bluish  and  cold  tone 
would  reproduce  much  lighter  than  its  usual  appear- 
ance on  the  retouched  photograph.  The  addition 
of  the  Yellow  Ochre,  to  kill  this  bluish  tone,  will 
allow  you  to  mix  a gray  that  will  exactly  match 
the  grays  in  your  photograph,  and  will  give  you  a 
result  in  retouching  that  will  reproduce  perfectly. 
Experienced  retouchers  frequently  use  other  colors 
to  get  this  effect,  such  as  Raw  Umber,  Burnt  Sienna 
and  even  Chrome  Yellow,  but  Yellow  Ochre  will 
answer  our  purpose  just  as  well.  You  must  exer- 
cise your  judgment  in  deciding  how  much  yellow 
to  use,  and  do  a little  experimenting  in  order  to  find 
an  exact  match  to  the  grays  in  your  photograph 
but  you  must  not  neglect  this  important  matter. 

To  mix  a warm  gray,  take  a small  quantity  of 
white  and  add  enough  Lamp  Black  and  Yellow 
Ochre  to  produce  the  desired  color.  Apply  a little 
of  the  color  with  your  brush  to  the  photograph, 
allow  it  to  become  dry,  and  then  see  how  near 
you  have  matched  the  gray  tone  of  the  photograph. 
Of  course,  more  black  or  more  white,  added,  will 
make  it  lighter  or  darker,  as  the  case  may  be.  Care 
must  be  taken  not  to  use  too  much  Yellow  Ochre  as 
the  gum,  in  an  excessive  amount  of  it,  sometimes 
causes  the  color  to  dry  out  darker  than  intended. 
To  match  the  darkest  glossy  black  on  your  photo, 
you  must  use  the  Retouch  Brown,  and  for  inter- 
mediate blacks,  not  so  dark,  you  must  add  a small 
quantity  of  Lamp  Black  to  the  Retouch  Brown, 
but  always  be  sure  to  wait  until  the  color  dries 
before  you  decide  whether  you  have  matched  the 
photographic  color  or  not.  An  ordinary  china 
plate  or  saucer  will  do  to  mix  your  color  on;  or 
you  may  take  a small  sheet  of  glass  with  white 
paper  pasted  on  the  reverse  side  so  you  can  clearly 
see  the  shade  of  the  color  you  are  mixing.  Artists 
generally  use  a palette  knife  to  mix  their  color; 
this  is  of  flexible  steel,  and  is  not  very  expensive. 
A suitable  vessel  to  contain  water  should  be  at 
hand  for  moistening  color  and  for  washing  brushes. 
The  water  should  not  be  allowed  to  become  so 
dirty  as  to  contaminate  the  white  you  are  using. 
Procure  a piece  of  blotting  paper  or  soft  linen 
for  removing  excess  water  from  the  brushes  and 
also  some  absorbent  cotton  for  cleaning  off  the 
print.  With  these  preparations,  we  are  ready 
for  our  first  experiences  in  photo-retouching. 


Mounting  the  Photograph 

One  should  never  attempt  to  retouch  an  un- 
mounted print  of  the  usual  thickness,  because  the 
wet  color  would  cause  the  surface  of  the  print  to 
buckle  up  or  blister,  making  it  inconvenient  to 
work  upon,  and  unsatisfactory  for  the  purpose  of 
reproduction.  Some  prints  are  made  of  double 
thickness  and  can  be  worked  upon  without  diffi- 
culty, but  others  must  be  mounted. 

To  mount  the  print,  immerse  it  in  cold  water 
for  a few  moments,  lay  it  face  down  on  clean  paper 
or  blotting  paper,  blot  off  the  water  and  coat  it 
thoroughly  with  paste  by  means  of  a paste  brush. 
The  paste  should  not  be  too  thin,  and  care  should 
be  taken  that  no  small  lumps  of  paste,  grains  of 
dirt,  hairs  from  the  brush  or  anything  but  a thin 
layer  of  paste  is  on  the  back  of  the  photo.  Should 
any  be  seen,  carefully  pick  them  off  or  they  will  be 
noticeable  as  bumps  on  the  surface  of  the  mounted 
print.  Take  the  pasted  print  by  the  corners, 
place  it,  picture  side  up,  on  your  cardboard  mount, 
and  with  a wad  of  absorbent  cotton  carefully  rub 
it  down  in  place,  being  sure  that  all  the  edges 
are  pasted  clown  tight.  After  wiping  off  with 
wet  cotton  any  paste  that  may  have  adhered  to 
the  face  of  the  print,  set  it  aside  to  dry.  If 
these  instructions  have  been  carefully  followed, 
the  result  will  be  a successfully  mounted  print. 
The  student  should  practice  mounting  sheets  of 
paper  instead  of  photographs  until  he  learns  to  do  it 
neatly  and  successfully. 

In  case  the  print  has  not  been  well  pasted, 
it  can  always  be  removed  by  soaking  the  mounted 
print  in  water  long  enough  to  soften  up  the  paste, 
vhen  it  can  be  carefully  pulled  off  the  mount, 
repasted  and  mounted  over  again.  The  object  of 
wetting  the  print  previous  to  mounting,  is  two-fold : 
first,  the  dampness  of  the  print  keeps  the  paste 
from  drying  too  quickly  and  allows  sufficient  time 
to  place  the  pasted  print  on  the  mount  before  the 
paste  becomes  too  dry.  Secondly,  the  print  ex- 
pands on  account  of  being  wet,  and  after  being 
pasted  and  placed  in  position,  the  drying  out, 
which  causes  it  to  shrink  or  contract,  makes  a tight 
job  of  pasting.  In  mounting  a large  photograph 
the  shrinkage  is  so  great  that  it  bends  the  mount, 
which  has  to  be  counteracted  against  by  pasting  a 
sheet  of  paper  on  the  back  of  the  mount.  This 
as  it  dries,  shrinks  and  pulls  the  other  way,  and 
when  it  is  completely  dry  should  hold  the  card- 
board mount  flat  and  even.  These  instructions 
not  only  apply  to  the  mounting  of  photographs, 
but  also  apply  to  the  mounting  of  any  papers  of 
any  size. 

Preparing  the  Surface 

All  photographic  prints,  especially  those  with 
a very  glossy  surface,  seem  more  or  less  greasy,  and 
will  not  take  color  readily.  Some  retouchers  rub 


Page  Four 


a little  diluted  acetic  acid  over  the  print  to  remove 
the  grease.  Others  use  diluted  ammonia  in  the 
same  way.  The  best  and  most  reliable  method 
for  cleaning  and  preparing  the  surface  of  a photo- 
graph for  retouching,  is  to  first  place  a piece  of 
cotton  in  the  mouth  and  well  moisten  it  with  saliva, 
then  thoroughly  rub  with  it,  the  entire  surface  of 
the  print.  I his  does  not  sound  very  sanitary,  but 
nevertheless  has  never  been  equaled  as  a method 
of  preparing  the  surface  of  a photographic  print 
for  receiving  retouching.  For  the  purpose  of  re- 
touching, the  mounted  photograph  should  be 
tacked  to  the  drawing  board  by  thumb  tacks,  and 
after  having  the  surface  treated  for  the  removal 
of  grease,  is  ready  for  retouching. 

Consistency  of  Color 

Do  not  use  your  retouching  color  too  thin.  A 
proper  consistency  of  color  would  be  the  thickness 
of  heavy  cream.  The  color  used  from  the  brush 
must  be  thick  enough  to  cover  the  surface  well, 
and  must  not  flow  from  the  brush  too  easily,  but 
if  too  thick  it  will  appear  streaky  when  dry  and 
may  show  brush  marks,  which  are  undesirable. 
As  the  work  proceeds  should  any  of  it  prove 
unsatisfactory,  it  is  better  to  remove  the  color 
by  wiping  it  off  with  a piece  of  wet  cotton  and 
start  over  again.  You  will  notice  that  your  color 
when  dry  will  not  be  as  glossy  as  the  photograph. 
This  cannot  be  helped,  and  will  not  interfere  with 
the  reproduction,  if  the  tones  are  well  matched. 
There  is  one  exception  to  the  colors  drying  out 
dull,  and  that  is  the  Retouch  Brown,  which  always 
dries  glossy  on  account  of  the  gum  in  it, 

Warm  Tones 

The  tone-matching  of  photographs  that  are  not 
black  in  tone,  such  as  those  in  the  warmer  tones, 
known  as  sepia,  solio,  etc.,  is  merely  a matter  of 
mixing  color  to  match  the  color  of  the  photo.  At 
the  present  time  it  is  very  seldom  the  retoucher  is 
called  upon  to  retouch  other  than  black  prints, 
the  operation  of  which  we  have  explained  in  detail. 
Should  it  be  necessary  at  any  time  to  retouch  any 
photographs  of  a brown  or  warmish  tone,  the 
colors  may  be  mixed  by  using  the  regular  water 
colors  in  tubes,  using  such  colors  as  Cologne  Earth, 
Sepia,  Vandyke  Brown,  Burnt  Sienna  or  any  other 
warm  colors  that  will  mix  to  match  the  color  of 
the  photograph. 

On  charts  2 and  3,  which  accompany  this  section 
on  Photo-Retouching,  will  be  found  several  exam- 
ples, such  as  come  within  the  usual  scope  of  that 
line  of  work.  On  each  of  these  subjects  we  pre- 
sent simple  instructions  for  handling  them  by  the 
usual  retouching  methods.  As  the  prints,  sent  you 
to  be  worked  up  similarly,  are  black  and  white,  it  is 
self-evident  that  the  only  colors  to  be  used  in 
retouching  these  are  black,  white  and  yellow  ochre ; 
so  you  will  use  the  lamp  black,  white  and  yellow 


ochre  sent  you,  which  are  the  identical  materials 
used  in  retouching  the  original  copies.  In  regard 
to  handling  the  opaque  color  in  this  work  we  refer 
the  student  to  our  article  entitled  “Opaque,”  in 
section  2. 

This  article  gives  complete  instructions  for  mix- 
ing your  colors  on  the  color  slab  furnished,  and 
describes  the  mixing  of  five  tones  (See  example 
B,  Fig.  17,  Chart  1,  Sec.  2.)  This  scale  of  five 
tones  is  the  correct  arrangement  to  be  used  in 
retouching,  and  is  the  system  you  must  use  for 
this  kind  of  work.  The  simplicity  of  this  scale 
system  for  photo-retouching  renders  it  particu- 
larly desirable  to  the  student;  without  it,  the 
beginner  would  be  continually  floundering  in  a 
vain  search  for  the  necessary  tone  and  in  his  efforts 
to  mix  it,  whereas,  with  our  simple  five  tone  scale 
already  mixed,  it  is  a very  easy  matter  to  determine 
which,  of  the  tones  should  be  used. 

Upon  examination  it  will  be  found  that  a black 
and  white  photograph  will  rarely  contain  any  more 
definite  tones  than  the  five  we  have  given,  for  we 
have  here,  in  addition  to  our  white  at  one  end  of 
the  scale  and  our  black  at  the  other  end,  three 
intermediate  tones ; should  we  need  a tone  slightly 
different,  it  is  easy  to  mix  it  from  the  tones  on  our 
slab  to  suit  any  necessity.  Always  bear  in  mind 
that  the  fewer  tones  you  use,  and  the  more  simple 
you  make  the  work,  the  more  effective  it  will  be, 
as  a specimen  of  good  photo-retouching. 

Opaque  Blending 

In  regard  to  shading  or  blending  in  opaque,  it 
must  be  admitted  that  it  has  its  difficulties  even 
to  the  experienced  professional,  although  some 
acquire  the  knack  easier  and  quicker  than  others. 
Being  a matter  in  which  practice  promotes  pro- 
ficiency, it  is  necessary  to  give  this  matter  con- 
siderable attention  in  the  form  of  constant  prac- 
tice, and  it  will  be  well  for  the  student  to  practice 
blending  on  any  waste  or  discarded  pieces  of  card- 
board or  paper  with  suitable  surface,  in  order  to 
develop  proficiency.  Blending  can  only  be  accom- 
plished when  the  tones  to  be  blended,  or  shaded 
are  in  a moist  or  wet  condition.  For  instance,  if 
you  apply  a dark  tone  to  your  drawing  on  the  side 
of  your  work  that  is  to  remain  dark,  according  to 
the  laws  of  light  and  shade  as  discussed  in  previous 
sections,  and  then  apply  a lighter  tone  adjoining 
it,  on  the  side  approaching  the  part  that  is  to  be 
lighter,  you  can,  while  these  tones  are  still  wet, 
blend  or  mix  them  together  with  a clean  moist 
brush  that  has  previously  had  all  opaque  color 
removed  from  it  by  washing  it  out  in  your  water 
receptacle.  This  must  be  done  without  much  loss 
of  time  because  the  opaque  tones  applied  by  you 
are  rapidly  drying.  If  the  paper,  or  material  on 
which  you  are  working,  has  a smooth  surface,  the 
applied  opaque  will  dry  more  rapidly  than  if  the 


Page  Five 


surface  had  a rougher  texture.  The  reason  for 
this  is,  that  the  minute  depressions  on  the  surface 
of  the  rough  paper,  form  receptacles  that  hold 
sufficient  wet  pigment  to  overcome  evaporation 
of  the  moisture  and  the  absorption  of  it  by  the 
paper.  If  the  paper  has  a smooth  surface,  it 
only  retains  a thin  coat  of  the  pigment  and  con- 
sequently loses  its  moisture  very  speedily  by  eva- 
poration and  absorption. 

The  process  of  blending,  just  mentioned,  may 
be  described  as  a direct  method  in  which  the  blend- 
ing is  accomplished  immediately  after  the  applica- 
tion of  the  opaque,  and  is  the  best  method  to 
acquire. 

Another  method  is  to  apply  individual  tones 
from  dark  to  light,  or  vice  versa,  in  steps  or  inter- 
vals in  which  the  differences  of  tone  are  not  too 
decided,  and  after  they  have  become  dry, 
blending  or  mixing  the  tones  together  by  a few 
light  brushing  movements  from  a clean  moist 
brush.  The  student  should  use  careful  judgment 
as  to  the  selection  of  either  method,  for  if  the  area 
to  be  blended  is  of  small  extent,  the  latter  method 
may  be  used  to  advantage,  but  if  a large  area  is  to 
be  worked  upon,  the  former,  or  direct  method,  is 
best  for  the  purpose. 

In  vignetting  with  opaque,  it  will  be  found 
advisable  to  lay  on  a preliminary  coat  of  white 
pigment  somewhat  larger  than  the  space  to  be 
occupied  by  the  vignette.  When  this  undercoat 
of  white  is  dry,  the  medium  tone  may  be  applied 
in  its  proper  place  according  to  the  desired  extent 
of  the  vignette,  and  its  edges  carefully  blended  or 
mixed  into  the  white  undercoat  by  a moist  clean 
brush,  which  should  have  first  been  washed  out 
in  clean  water  and  the  surplus  water  squeezed  out 
of  it  so  that  the  brush  is  only  moderately  wet. 
This  operation  may  be  repeated  with  the  next 
darker  tone  on  top  of  the  medium  tone  below,  but 
care  must  be  taken  not  to  overdo  the  mixing, 
otherwise  the  white  undercoat  may  be  disturbed 
and  make  its  appearance  on  the  surface  in  the 
form  of  streaks. 

Some  artists  blend  the  opaque  tones  together 
by  carefully  stippling,  or  cross-hatching  the  darker 
tone  on  top  of  the  lighter  so  as  to  gradually  merge 
one  tone  into  the  other. 

Extra  practice  on  waste  pieces  of  paper,  as 
previously  mentioned,  will  help  considerably  in 
accomplishing  results  where  shading  and  blending 
are  needed  in  photo-retouching,  or  any  other  class 
of  work  where  opaque  pigment  is  used. 

As  a suggestion,  draw  with  your  compass  two 
circles,  either  in  pencil  or  ink,  which  will  represent 
the  inner  and  outer  outlines  of  an  automobile  tire, 
afterwards  applying  the  opaque  and  carefully 
blending  it  so  as  to  present  a correctly  shaded 


study  of  the  object.  This  will  afford  excellent 
blending  practice,  which  may  be  varied  by  select- 
ing other  subjects,  such  as  a shaded  cylinder, 
sphere  or  ball,  or  in  fact  any  object  with  a rounded 
or  curved  surface  suitable  for  shading,  or  applying 
graduated  tone.  Apply  yourself  to  as  much  of 
this  practice  as  possible,  for  it  is  very  helpful  to 
you  in  acquiring  proficiency  with  your  brush  in 
free-hand  shading,  and  is  extremely  necessary  in 
photo-retouching  regardless  of  the  fact  that  air- 
brush work  is  easier  of  accomplishment. 

Work  to  be  Submitted 

On  charts  2 and  3 we  are  showing  the  reproduc- 
tion of  photographs  which  have  been  retouched. 
We  have  sent  you  the  photographic  prints  of  these 
examples  just  as  they  originally  were  before  being 
retouched.  You  are  to  mount  these  photographs 
as  previously  described,  and  retouch  them  accord- 
ing to  the  following  instructions,  producing  the 
same  effects  as  shown  in  the  chart  reproductions. 

We  will  now  proceed  to  take  up  in  turn  each  of 
the  subjects  to  be  handled  by  the  student,  starting 
with  Fig.  1 on  Chart  No.  2. 

Q - 

Fig.  1,  Chart  2 — Sprinkler 

In  the  handling  of  different  surface  treatments, 
the  retoucher  will  find  that  one  of  those  most 
frequently  used  is  that  of  the  representation  of 
galvanized  iron.  The  example  we  present  is  the 
ordinary  watering  pot  or  sprinkler  used  in  the 
garden.  In  a catalog  of  hardware,  photographs  of 
such  utensils  and  many  others  of  similar  nature, 
form  a large  portion  of  the  contents,  and  would 
have  to  be  handled  and  improved  by  the  retoucher. 

The  instructions  on  retouching  this  photograph 
of  a sprinkler  are,  for  you  to  smooth  up  surfaces, 
true  up  any  parts  that  may  appear  bent,  line  up 
generally,  bring  out  all  detail  clearly,  and  work 
over  the  entire  surface  so  as  to  imitate  galvanized 
iron,  with  the  exception  of  the  two  dark  lines, 
which,  on  the  sprinkler,  are  two  bands  painted  in 
a dark  color.  It  is  to  be  an  outline  cut,  but  the 
background  having  been  removed  on  the  negative, 
it  will  not  be  necessary  to  paint  it  out  with  white, 
as  we  have  instructed  on  other  examples.  Care- 
fully line  up  and  detail  the  handle,  taking  care  to 
follow  the  curve  exactly,  so  no  unevenness  will 
show.  True  up  the  top  and  remove  the  dent  there- 
in, bring  out  the  indented  portion  just  below  the 
top  band  of  paint,  bring  out  clearly  the  details 
around  the  spout  of  the  sprinkler,  and  then  work 
over  the  entire  surface  of  the  utensil  so  as  to  repre- 
sent galvanized  iron,  in  the  same  manner  as  we  have 
shown  on  the  retouched  example  (Fig.  1 .)  This  is 
really  very  simple  to  do,  once  you  have  acquired 
the  method  of  working.  1 1 is  merely  a matter  of  us- 
ing the  brush  with  rather  stiff  color,  making  little 


Page  Six 


dabs  or  pointed  strokes,  some  dabs  being  at  right 
angles  to  others; using  white  in  the  high  light  por- 
tion, and  dark  grey  in  the  darkest  shade,  with  light 
grey  in  the  medium  shade.  By  handling  the  color 
intelligently  you  can  obtain  the  rounded  effect 
very  easily.  Follow  the  copy  carefully  and  you 
will  produce  an  excellent  imitation  of  galvanized 
iron  that  will  reproduce  very  well,  especially  when 
it  receives  the  reduction  that  is  generally  given 
to  copy  for  half-tone  engraving.  This  system  of 
imitating  galvanized  iron  is  the  manner  in  which 
you  must  always  represent  that  surface,  both  now 
and  in  any  future  retouching.  Be  careful  not  to 
make  this  brush  effect  or  technique  any  coarser 
than  we  have  shown  on  the  chart  figure. 

Fig.  2,  Chart  2 — Automobile 

This  illustration  is  typical  of  the  average  auto- 
mobile photograph  sent  to  the  artist  for  retouch- 
ing, and  the  instructions  for  handling  this  will  be 
as  follows : 

1st.  Remove  all  the  background  for  an  out- 
line and  vignette  cut. 

2nd.  Smooth  up  tires. 

3rd.  Remove  all  reflections  on  body  of  car. 

4th.  Line  up  generally  and  smooth  up  all  body 
and  top  of  car. 

After  pasting  and  mounting  on  a piece  of  card- 
board as  previously  explained,  moisten  a small 
wad  of  cotton  with  saliva,  and  rub  it  thoroughly 
over  the  entire  surface  of  the  photo  to  remove  all 
grease,  so  you  may  have  no  difficulty  in  applying 
the  color  for  retouching.  We  explained  this  opera- 
tion previously,  but  refer  to  it  again,  as  it  is  a very 
necessary  procedure,  and  should  be  followed  in 
every  case,  no  matter  how  small  an  amount  of 
retouching  has  to  be  done.  The  reason  for  this  is, 
that  the  entire  surface  of  the  photograph  should 
be  freed  from  grease,  for  it  very  frequently  happens 
that  a photograph,  after  being  retouched  slightly 
according  to  instructions  in  some  certain  part, 
may,  after  the  customer  has  seen  it,  be  returned 
for  more  retouching  than  was  at  first  intended. 
Unless  the  photograph  had  been  prepared  all  over 
there  would  be  some  difficulty  in  doing  additional 
retouching,  and  also  the  possibility  of  disturbing 
the  present  retouching  by  attempting  to  prepare 
the  surface  for  the  additional  work. 

The  instructions  call  for  this  photograph  to 
be  prepared  for  an  outline  and  vignette  cut  but 
as  the  background  has  been  removed  on  the  nega- 
tive it  will  only  be  necessary  to  introduce  the 
vignette  as  on  the  chart  example. 

You  may  now  proceed  to  lay  in  your  opaque  color 
in  the  same  tones  as  the  retouched  sample,  illus- 
trated in  Fig.  2 on  Chart  2.  Do  not  use  your 
color  too  thin.  Before  laying  in  your  color,  care- 
fully indent  all  lines  of  striping  around  doors  and 
all  other  lines  of  location,  so  you  may  be  able  to 


find  them  after  you  have  washed  over  them  with 
opaque  color. 

This  process  of  indenting  is  done  by  going  over 
all  lines  that  are  to  be  preserved,  by  means  of  a 
hard  pencil  which  is  pressed  on  the  surface  of  the 
photo  sufficiently  to  leave  an  indentation.  This 
will  show  through  any  color  you  may  apply  and 
will  enable  you  to  locate  all  your  lines  of  striping, 
etc.  You  may  rule  or  draw  lines  above  the  in- 
dented lines  in  finishing  the  completed  drawing. 
Having  laid  in  all  your  tints  carefully,  blending 
when  necessary,  put  in  solid  blacks  where  shown, 
and  line  up  wherever  necessary,  using  the  black 
for  that  purpose.  Flash  the  glass  in  back  of  auto- 
top and  also  the  glass  wind  shield.  The  represen- 
tation of  glass,  in  illustrations  of  mechanical  sub- 
jects, is  given  by  imitating  the  reflections  that 
glass  gives,  by  means  of  sudden  or  snappy  brush 
strokes.  For  instance,  the  glass  in  an  automobile 
wind  shield  although  transparent,  will  give  reflec- 
tions that  will,  in  places,  slightly  disturb  its  trans- 
parency. These  reflections  are  not  decided  enough 
to  show  any  special  form  unless  closely  observed, 
and  are  best  represented  by  brush  strokes  as 
mentioned,  which,  however,  must  not  be  too  harsh 
or  pronounced,  either  in  tone  or  technique,  and 
should  be  softly  blended  in  some  places,  and  have 
sharp  edges  at  others;  the  manner  of  doing  this 
largely  depending  on  the  individuality  and  whim 
of  the  artist. 

Work  over  the  details  of  the  car  carefully,  lining 
them  up  and  carefully  comparing  your  work  with 
the  copy  so  that  no  part  may  be  overlooked. 
Carefully  note  the  difference  between  white,  and 
the  gray  color  used  in  the  detailing,  using  white 
only  where  white  is  shown  on  the  copy.  After  you 
feel  satisfied  with  what  you  have  done  you  may 
proceed  to  put  in  the  ground  shadow  or  vignette, 
which  will  complete  the  job.  Always  bear  in 
mind,  the  fact,  that  if  your  retouching  is  not  satis- 
factory, you  can  easily  wipe  it  off  with  a moistened 
wad  of  cotton  and  start  all  over  again.  But  in 
wiping  off  color  it  is  better  to  remove  it  from  the 
entire  section.  You  will  then  have  a better  sur- 
face to  w'ork  over  and  be  more  likely  to  make  a 
cleaner  job. 

In  regard  to  working  up  the  tires,  this  must  be 
done  very  carefully  and  delicately.  There  is  not 
a great  deal  of  shading  to  them,  especially  on  the 
rear  tires,  and  the  best  plan  will  be  to  lay  in  a flat 
light  tone  all  over,  then  work  your  shading  in  a 
slightly  darker  tone  on  top  of  your  light  undertone, 
carefully  blending  them  together,  as  shown  in  the 
copy.  The  rear  tire  will  be  comparatively  easy  to 
handle,  on  account  of  the  non-skid  pattern  around 
it,  eliminating  the  necessity  of  blending. 

In  this  subject  or  any  other,  it  is  always  advis- 
able, when  the  existing  photographic  detail  is  good 


Page  Seven 


enough,  to  leave  it  un-retouched,  if  you  cannot 
improve  it.  This  would  be  the  case  with  the  auto 
wheels  excepting  the  tires.  The  original  rims, 
hubs  and  spokes  need  no  retouching  except  neces- 
sary lining-up  on  their  edges. 

Never  use  a lead  pencil  in  retouching,  for  the 
luster  on  the  indented  lead  may  reflect  the  light 
and  cause,  in  the  reproduction,  an  opposite  effect 
to  that  which  you  desire,  appearing  light  instead 
of  dark. 

Fig.  3,  Chart  2 — Gears 

Geared  wheels  form  an  excellent  study  for  prac- 
tice in  retouching.  They  are  generally  very  much 
in  evidence  in  all  heavy  machinery  and  are  inter- 
esting subjects  for  the  retoucher,  especially  in 
regard  to  light  and  shade.  Our  photograph  shows 
a group  of  large  gears  photographed  on  the  floor  of 
a mammoth  machine  shop.  This  photograph  will 
be  retouched  to  form  an  outline  cut,  with  a little 
floor  shadow  handled  as  p hard  vignette,  or,  as  we 
have  referred  to  it  elsewhere  on  Chart  1 , a snappy 
vignette.  This  will  necessitate  painting  out  the 
background  with  white  and  drawing  in  a post,  as 
shown,  against  which  the  larger  gear  to  the  right 
will  be  leaning.  Grain  this  post  to  imitate 
heavy  timber,  as  shown  in  the  chart  example  of 
the  subject.  There  is  a sunlight  effect  which  must 
be  eliminated,  also  as  shown  in  our  chart  example. 

To  paint  out  a background  in  white,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  work  very  carefully  up  to  the  outline  of  the 
subject  and  try  to  lay  your  white  as  smoothly  as 
possible.  This  may  seem  to  be  quite  a trick,  but 
by  perseverance  and  practice  you  will  eventually 
master  it  and  be  able  to  make  quite  a smooth  job. 

After  you  have  painted  in  your  white  back- 
ground, you  will  find  that  you  can  more  readily 
see  how  your  subject  will  look  as  you  lay  your 
tones.  By  eliminating  the  background,  you  elimi- 
nate confusion  and  are  able  to  see  and  judge  more 
clearly  what  you  are  doing.  Do  not  bother  about 
the  ground  shadow  or  vignette;  the  handling  of 
this  can  be  kept  till  the  last. 

In  retouching  these  gears  there  is  not  much 
effort  made  at  blending  tones,  but  they  are  retouch- 
ed mostly  for  strong  effects.  Watch  carefully  the 
light  and  shade.  The  light  is  coming  from  the 
left-hand  upper  corner,  and  the  retouching  must 
be  handled  accordingly.  Use  pure  black  for  the 
deepest  shadows.  The  prevailing  tone  is  a dark 
grey,  with  a darker  grey  for  deeper  tone,  and  a 
light  grey  for  those  parts  nearest  the  light,  finish- 
ing with  pure  white  for  the  extreme  high  light. 

In  painting  out  the  background  with  white  you 
will  notice  on  the  extreme  right  a portion  of  a 
pulley  wheel  overlapping  the  big  gear.  This  must 
be  removed,  both  in  the  background  and  on  the 
surface  of  the  gear,  which  must  be  retouched  so  as 


to  make  the  gear  whole  and  complete.  These 
gears  are  a subject  worthy  of  considerable  atten- 
tion, and  it  will  be  well  to  give  them  plenty  of 
time  and  thought.  If,  after  retouching,  they  do 
not  appear  satisfactory  to  you,  clean  off  the  photo 
and  start  afresh,  until  you  feel  you  have  approach- 
ed very  closely  to  the  desired  effect,  as  it  appears 
to  you. 

Fig.  4,  Chart  3 Building 

This  represents  a very  usual  type  of  building 
that  comes  to  the  hand  of  the  retoucher  for  a few 
items  of  improvement.  The  instructions  on  this 
piece  of  work  are  summed  up  as  follows 

First — Retouch  for  square  finish;  remove  the 
sign  on  top  of  the  building  and  all  wires,  but 
leave  the  trees  to  left  of  the  photograph. 

Second — Remove  the  moving  picture  theatre 
sign  at  the  right  side  and  take  out  the  two  tele- 
graph poles. 

Third — Clean  up  windows  and  line  them 
up;  remove  all  wires  in  front  of  building,  except 
those  supporting  the  bank  sign  that  project 
from  the  second  story. 

Fourth — Line  up  generally  and  put  a little 
more  snap  in  photo. 

Fifth — Clean  up  street  and  sidewalk  and  line 
up  street  car  track. 

To  carry  out  these  instructions  paint  out  all  the 
wires,  signs  and  sky  with  white,  working  up  to 
the  edge  of  the  building  cleanly  and  carefully.  It 
will  be  well  to  rule  a white  line  around  the  sky  line 
of  the  building  before  you  paint  out  the  sky.  This 
will  assist  you  in  making  a clean  job  of  it;  then 
paint  in  your  white  up  to  this  line. 

In  removing  the  telegraph  poles  and  wires,  also 
theatre  sign,  carefully  mix  up  your  color  to  match 
the  color  of  the  photograph,  as  we  have  already 
explained  elsewhere,  and  neatly  and  smoothly 
brush  out  those  portions  that  are  to  be  removed. 
This  should  be  so  well  done,  both  in  smoothness 
and  matching  of  color,  that,  at  a casual  glance,  the 
removal  of  these  parts  will  not  be  very  noticeable. 
While  this  sounds  hard  to  do,  it  is  not  such  a diffi- 
cult matter  as  it  seems. 

To  clean  up  the  windows,  as  called  for,  handle 
them  exactly  as  shown  on  the  retouched  copy, 
Fig.  4.  Two  of  the  windows  that  show  the  upper 
sash  pulled  down  should  have  this  sash  shown 
where  it  belongs;  that  is,  in  the  upper  part  of  the 
window.  All  the  fly  screens  must  be  painted  out, 
then  line  up  the  sash,  using  white  and  black  lines. 
Paint  in  the  glass  of  the  upper  sash  with  a light 
gray  tone  and  fill  in  the  lower  sash  with  a dark  tone. 
This  will  give  an  appearance  as  of  the  shades  being 
drawn  down  half  way,  the  dark  color  representing 
the  space  below  the  shades  and  giving  more  snap 
and  color  to  the  photograph.  “Snap,”  as  we  have 
before  explained,  means  contrast,  or  strong  darks 


Page  Eight 


and  lights,  and  renders  the  subject  more  notice- 
able and  attractive.  The  more  strongly  notice- 
able and  attractive  we  can  make  our  work,  the 
more  valuable  it  becomes  as  an  advertising  propo- 
sition, the  value  of  which  is  entirely  governed  by 
the  amount  of  interest  its  strong  attractiveness 
causes. 

In  lining  up  this  photo,  you  may  use  pen  and  ink, 
ruling  lines  where  all  shadow  lines  now  exist  and 
thereby  strengthening  the  detail  Do  not  attempt 
to  rule  lines  by  using  ink  or  diluted  opaque  on 
any  surface  that  has  been  retouched  with  opaque. 
Opacjue  is  very  absorbent,  being  similar  in  this 
respect  to  blotting  paper;  only  opaque  of  heavy 
consistency,  retouch  brown,  or  similar  pigments 
should  be  used  for  ruling  on  opaque,  otherwise  the 
ruled  lines  will  spread,  smear  and  cause  blots.  Clean 
up  the  street  and  sidewalk  with  light  color,  as 
shown  in  the  retouched  copy,  and  with  a little 
lining-up  of  the  street  car  tracks  our  building 
photo  ought  to  present  itself  as  a fairly  good 
example  for  half  tone  reproduction. 

Fig.  5,  Chart  3 — Chair 

In  the  retouching  of  furniture  subjects,  one  of  the 
most  important  things  to  do  is  to  bring  out  the 
character  of  the  grain.  To  the  manufacturer  of 
furniture  this  is  such  an  important  matter  that 
many  schemes  are  resorted  to  in  order  to  make  the 
grain  show  to  the  best  advantage  in  the  photo- 
graph. For  such  purpose  some  pieces  of  furniture 
are  photographed  before  being  polished,  especially 
if  they  are  of  wood  that  is  dark  in  color,  as  the 
polish  generally  makes  the  wood  appear  so  much 
darker  in  the  photograph  that  the  grain  appears 
very  indistinct.  It  is  very  seldom  that  a photo- 
graph of  furniture,  showing  the  grain  of  the  wood 
from  which  it  is  constructed,  is  considered  good 
enough  for  reproduction  without  first  passing 
through  the  hands  of  the  retoucher.  The  subject 
we  have  here  is  that  of  a dining-room  chair  of 
solid  and  sensible  design,  constructed  of  what  is 
known  as  quarter-sawed  oak.  This  is  a very  popular 
wood  for  certain  kinds  of  furniture,  and  the  peculiar 
character  of  the  figures  in  its  grain  makes  this  wood 
very  pleasing  to  the  majority  of  people.  It  is  very 
odd  in  character  and  entirely  unlike  the  grain  of 
any  other  wood.  Consequently  the  maker  of 
quarter-sawed  oak  furniture  generally  likes  to  have 
the  grain  retouched  well  enough  to  bring  it  out  to 
the  best  advantage.  The  chair  in  question  is  con- 
structed of  fumed  oak  which  is  very  difficult  to 
photograph  on  account  of  its  darkness  of  color; 
hence  the  great  necessity  for  the  retoucher’s  skill. 
To  reproduce  on  a photograph  the  effect  of  quarter- 
sawed  oak  is  a job  that  requires  a good  deal  of 
study  and  thinking,  and  it  will  be  to  the  advantage 
of  the  student  retoucher  if  he  will  carefully  observe 
this  grain  on  any  furniture  that  may  come  under 
his  notice. 


Wash  in  two  or  three  square  panels  of  dark 
color  on  cardboard,  and  with  light  gray  color  try 
to  follow  carefully  the  markings  of  this  grain  as  it 
appears  to  you  on  the  furniture  and  make  several 
examples  of  it  before  attempting  to  retouch  the 
chair  photograph.  It  is  worth  while  to  put  a 
good  deal  of  study  into  this  imitating  of  quarter- 
sawed  oak.  When  you  feel  somewhat  satisfied 
with  what  you  have  accomplished  in  your  practice 
work  you  may  start  out  on  the  chair. 

Professional  retouchers  frequently  render  excel- 
lent grain  effects  on  photographic  prints,  by 
scratching  away  the  dark  tone  in  accordance  with 
the  figure  of  the  grain,  using  the  frisket  knife 
described  later  in  ‘Air-Brush’’  work,  or  a small 
keen-edged  knife  known  as  a scraper.  This  scrap- 
ing process  exposes  the  original  white  surface  of 
the  print  and  produces  the  grain  effect  in  either 
a light  tone  or  in  white,  according  to  the  depth  of 
the  scraping,  but  should  not  be  attempted  by  the 
student  in  his  work  on  this  lesson.  Furthermore, 
he  should  not  attempt  this  treatment  on  any  other 
work  until  he  has  become  familiar  with  the  charac- 
teristics of  the  grain  he  is  representing,  for  it  is 
difficult  to  correct  mistakes  or  to  make  changes 
afterwards  without  damaging  the  surface  of  the 
print. 

Most  furniture  photographs  have  the  back- 
ground blocked  out  on  the  negative,  and  the  print 
shows  the  piece  of  furniture  on  a white  background. 
This  has  also  been  done  in  the  case  of  this  chair,  so 
you  will  not  have  to  paint  out  the  background. 
First  take  notice  of  the  light  and  shade  of  the 
object  and  darken  the  dark  or  shaded  side  of  the 
chair,  making  those  parts  on  the  under  side  farthest 
away  from  you  very  dark  indeed,  in  fact  almost 
intense  black.  Follow  the  copy  very  closely  in 
regard  to  this  light  and  shade,  otherwise  your 
work  will  be  too  flat  in  tone  and  the  construction 
of  the  chair  will  not  be  understood.  Having 
accomplished  the  shading,  you  may  take  up  the 
graining,  using  various  tones  of  gray  for  that  pur- 
pose; dark  gray  in  the  shaded  parts  and  lighter 
gray  in  the  lighter  parts.  In  the  lighter  parts 
make  the  grain  very  strong  and  keep  it  subdued 
in  the  shaded  parts.  In  the  very  darkest  parts 
the  grain  should  be  scarcely  visible,  otherwise  we 
will  lose  our  light  and  shade  by  overwhelming  the 
subject  with  too  much  grain. 

If  the  student  has  faithfully  studied  this  sub- 
ject of  grain  and  practiced  the  drawing  of  it  care- 
fully, he  should,  with  the  assistance  of  the  re- 
touched copy,  be  able  to  make  a fairly  good  render- 
ing of  this  quarter-sawed  oak  dining  chair.  By  a 
good  deal  of  practice  a retoucher  eventually 
becomes  able  to  represent  any  kind  of  grain  that 
may  be  desired  without  reference  to  copy  of  any 
kind,  or,  at  least,  give  a fairly  good  representation 
of  it.  It  is  always  advisable,  though,  for  the 


Page  Nine 


student,  should  he  come  across  any  good  copy 
showing  the  various  grains  of  wood,  to  keep  them 
for  reference,  for  he  may  find  them  very  useful  as 
well  as  interesting, 

Fig.  6,  Chart  3 — Landscape 

The  retoucher  frequently  has  to  handle  photo- 
graphs of  subjects  of  more  or  less  artistic  character; 
that  is,  subjects  that  are  not  so  mechanical  in  their 
nature  as  furniture,  machinery,  etc.  This  will 
give  the  artist  a little  more  chance  for  originality 
and  individuality,  especially  if  he  is  more  inclined 
to  indulge  his  talent  in  that  direction.  In  such  a 
class  may  be  placed  the  handling  of  landscapes, 
on  which  a little  artistic  addition  and  vignetting 
may  have  to  be  performed  to  fit  the  subject  for 
some  certain  purpose  of  illustration.  The  exam- 
ple we  present  for  treatment  is  of  that  order,  and 
the  instruction  will  merely  be  to  add  sufficient 
vignette  at  the  bottom,  so  that  the  photograph 
may  print  at  the  top  of  the  page  and  the  vignette 
extend  down  toward  the  type  matter  below. 

If  the  student  is  inclined  to  an  artistic  under- 
standing of  things  he  will  see  how  suitably  such 
things  as  water,  sky  or  a road  lend  themselves  to 
forming  a vignette.  Any  part  of  a landscape 
suitable  to  be  extended  from  or  out  of  the  picture, 
such  as  those  portions  referred  to,  are  ideal  for  the 
purpose  of  vignetting.  The  stream  of  water  com- 
ing toward  us  is  vignetted  or  blended  out  into  the 
white  paper.  As  there  are  already  a few  rocks  in 
the  water,  we  are  keeping  quite  close  to  the  charac- 
ter of  the  scene  by  adding  a few  more  rocks,  which 
we  may  easily  imagine  would  actually  be  there  if 
we  could  visit  the  spot  and  see  for  ourselves. 
These  rocks,  being  closer  to  us  in  the  foreground, 
may  be  drawn  somewhat  larger  than  the  others, 
and  we  may  also  add  a few  reeds  and  rushes  on  the 
left  side  to  form  a balance  against  the  large  tree  on 
the  right  side. 

The  vignetting  of  the  moving  water  with  its 
swirl  and  reflections,  affords  a very  good  oppor- 
tunity for  the  student  to  use  his  imagination  and 
individual  ideas  in  handling  such  a subject.  We 
would  suggest  that  if  any  similar  scenes  exist  in 
the  neighborhood,  it  would  be  very  desirable  for 
him  to  visit  such  spots  and  make  sketches  of  the 
action  of  the  water,  or  any  other  details  that  would 
assist  him  in  working  up  this,  or  any  similar  sub- 
ject. The  student  must  not  confine  his  study  of 
retouching  barely  to  the  examples  we  send  him 
but  obtain  as  much  outside  practice  as  possible. 
As  we  have  before  explained,  the  retouching  of 
photographs  should  be  done  in  a very  natural  way, 
and  a little  sketching  from  life,  done  true  to  life, 
will  help  considerably  in  giving  him  the  necessary 
ability  to  retouch  a photograph  and  make  it  look 
life-like.  It  will  not  be  necessary  to  do  any 
further  retouching  to  this  landscape  photograph. 


It  is  quite  good  enough  as  it  stands.  The  little 
addition  and  vignette  at  the  bottom  is  all  that 
is  necessary  to  make  it  a suitable  subject  for  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  intended. 

These  six  photos  comprise  your  retouching 
lesson.  Do  not  hurry  over  them  but  take  suffici- 
ent time  to  do  the  work  well  and  thoroughly; 
when  all  six  subjects  are  finally  completed  send 
them  in  for  criticism,  but  send  them  all  in  at  one 
time.  This  section  is  a very  particular  one,  as  it 
is  especially  designed  to  assist  the  student  to 
accomplish  very  careful  work,  so  you  must  endea- 
vor to  work  with  considerable  care,  in  order  to 
make  these  subjects  acceptable.  It  is  the  little 
details  that  count,  in  making  a satisfactory  job, 
whether  it  is  retouching  or  any  other  kind  of  com- 
mercial art,  and  in  giving  our  students  the  neces- 
sary training,  we  have  to  insist  on  a certain 
amount  of  careful,  earnest  work  at  the  very  begin- 
ning. We  do  not  expect  that  all  will  desire  to  be- 
come professional  retouchers,  although  many  do, 
for  it  is  a good  and  profitable  field,  but  in  order 
to  steady  the  eye  and  hand,  to  give  good  practice 
in  the  handling  of  opaque,  and  to  discourage  any 
tendency  to  careless  and  sloppy  work  we  desire 
our  students  to  give  particular  attention  to  the 
work  in  this  section. 

Introduction  to  Air  Brush  Work 

Before  taking  up  this  portion  of  the  section 
dealing  with  the  use  of  the  air  brush,  we  wish  to 
state,  that  so  far  as  a general  commercial  art 
course  is  concerned,  the  use  of  an  air  brush  is  not 
absolutely  necessary.  Therefore,  although  our  sec- 
tion on  photo  retouching  gives  complete  instruc- 
tions for  the  use  of  this  instrument,  we  do  not  in- 
clude it  in  our  equipment.  If  we  did,  at  least 
$50.00  would  have  to  be  added  to  the  cost  of  the 
course,  and  this  would  not  be  fair  to  a large  per- 
centage of  the  students,  who  would  have  little  or 
no  use  for  it,  further  than  for  working  out  the 
exercises  in  this  lesson. 

If  the  student  finds  that  he  is  favorably  inclined 
to  the  use  of  an  air  brush  or  finds  opportunities 
open  to  him  along  that  line  of  work,  then  the  air 
brush  portion  of  the  lesson  will  be  of  great  value 
to  him.  Work  on  this  portion  of  the  lesson  is 
entirely  optional  with  the  student,  as  is  also  the 
time  at  which  he  wishes  to  take  it  up.  What  we 
desire  is,  that  the  student  carefully  read  through 
this  section  so  that  he  may  completely  understand 
the  use  and  application  of  the  air  brush  and  also 
know  where  it  would  be  of  help  to  him. 

If  he  has  access  to  an  air  brush,  even  though  not 
greatly  interested  in  mechanical  work,  it  will  pay 
him  to  work  out  the  problems  at  this  time.  How- 
ever, as  all  work  in  this  lesson,  not  included  in  the 
air  brush  portion,  is  to  be  done  without  the  use  of 
the  air  brush  (as  is  also  all  work  of  the  other 


Page  Ten 


lessons),  it  is  not  necessary  that  he  work  out  the 
air  brush  problems  now  or  later. 

The  Air  Brush 

This  article  will  deal  with  that  mechanical  art 
tool,  the  air  brush,  only  as  it  is  used  in  commercial 
art  work.  It  is  used  in  other  lines  of  work,  such 
as  sign  painting,  portrait  enlargements,  etc.  It  is 
also  used  in  its  largest  sizes  for  applying  paint  to 
walls,  etc.,  and  various  other  purposes  in  manufac- 
turing industries.  In  regard  to  its  uses  in  commer- 
cial art,  we  will  state  that  in  no  other  manner  is  it 
possible  to  distribute  so  evenly  and  thoroughly  a 
layer  of  color  on  a drawing  or  photograph  as  can 
be  done  by  the  air  brush. 

In  retouching  it  is  useful  whenever  a very  smooth 
tint  is  required.  In  general  illustrations  it  can  be 
used  to  smooth  up  rough  wash  work,  or  to  put  in 
backgrounds  in  either  opaque  or  transparent  color. 

As  a matter  of  economy  and  efficiency,  this  tool, 
in  the  hands  of  an  artist,  can  accomplish  perfect 
work  in  a few  hours  that,  without  it,  would  take 
weeks  to  execute,  and  be  of  far  inferior  quality. 

This  tool  is  the  result  of  much  experimenting 
and  thought,  extending  over  many  years,  and  its 
construction  is  rather  delicate,  involving  a number 
of  small  parts.  It  should  be  handled  with  con- 
siderable care,  like  any  other  delicate  instrument, 
andparticular  pains  must  be  taken  to  keep  it  very 
clean  by  carefully  washing  it  out  after  using,  and 
never  allowing  any  unused  color  to  stay  in  the 
brush  when  it  is  set  aside  for  any  length  of  time. 

Should  the  thorough  washing-out  be  neglected, 
you  may  have  considerable  trouble  next  time 
you  use  it,  on  account  of  its  becoming  clogged  with 
dried  color.  With  just  a little  care  and  cleanliness 
you  will  find  the  brush  workable  whenever  you 
desire  to  use  it. 

All  air  brushes  work  on  practically  the  same  prin- 
ciple; that  is,  compressed  air  blows  a very  fine 
spray  of  color  from  the  point  of  a fine  needle  to 
the  surface  of  the  drawing  or  photograph  being 
worked  upon.  The  closer  the  air  brush  is  held 
to  the  work,  the  finer  the  line  of  color  will  be, 
increasing  in  width  of  line  as  the  air  brush  is  lifted 
away  from  the  surface.  A valve  on  the  air  brush, 
that  is  operated  by  the  pressure  of  the  forefinger, 
controls  the  volume  of  air  passing  through  the 
brush.  A very  slight  pressure  permits  a small 
quantity  of  air  to  pass  through  the  brush,  allowing 
the  making  of  a fine  line  of  spray,  while  more 
pressure  permits  more  air  volume  and  causes  the 
brush  to  work  at  full  capacity.  The  air,  in  passing 
around  the  point  of  the  needle,  causes  a suction, 
which  draws  the  color  through  the  brush  from  the 
color  cup,  allowing  the  air  pressure  to  blow  it 
upon  the  work  in  a fine,  almost  invisible  spray. 

The  volume  of  color  passing  from  the  air  brush 


is  increased  by  the  action  of  the  forefinger  in 
pressing  down  and  backward  at  the  same  time, 
thus  drawing  the  needle  back  from  the  point  and 
allowing  more  space  for  the  color  to  pass  through; 
hence,  more  volume  of  color.  This  action  is 
entirely  at  the  will  of  the  artist;  the  more  he 
presses  back  the  valve  lever,  the  more  color  is 
blown  out,  and  the  less  pressure  he  gives  the  lever, 
the  less  color  is  discharged.  This  action,  combined 
with  the  distance  of  the  air  brush  from  the  work, 
explains  the  whole  action  of  the  tool  in  producing 
a fine,  small  line  or  in  covering  with  tone  a larger 
surface.  Various  makes  of  air  brushes  are  oper- 
ated differently,  but  the  principle  is  practically  the 
same,  and  the  same  results  are  produced  by  slightly 
different  methods. 

This  continual  passing  of  color  over  the  point 
of  the  needle  eventually  wears  the  point  and  causes 
it  to  lose  its  sharpness,  together  with  its  ability  to  do 
very  fine  work,  although  not  interfering  with  its 
performance  on  larger  areas.  When  the  tip  of 
the  needle  is  thus  worn,  a new  needle  can  be  sub- 
stituted at  small  expense.  Some  artists  are  able 
to  sharpen  and  renew  the  point  of  a worn  needle, 
but  to  an  amateur  it  is  rather  a difficult  opera- 
tion, and  the  best  plan  is  to  purchase  a new 
needle;  in  fact,  one  should  always  have  a 
new  needle  on  hand  for  cases  of  emergency. 

The  space  through  which  the  color  passes, 
around  the  needle,  is  quite  small,  and  the  color  used 
should  be  thin  enough  to  pass  through  this  space 
easily.  Color  of  the  same  consistency  as  that 
of  drawing  ink  or  even  slightly  thinner  would  be 
correct  for  use  in  the  air  brush.  A reamer  is 
generally  furnished  with  the  air  brush  and  may 
be  used  sparingly  should  the  instrument  become 
badly  clogged.  It  is  possible,  but  not  advisable, 
to  use  fixative  (a  mixture  of  shellac  and  alcohol) 
through  your  air  brush,  but  if  you  do  this  at  any 
time,  you  should  pass  alcohol  freely  through  the 
color-cup  and  blow  it  through  the  brush  imme- 
diately after  using  it.  It  is  not  a good  plan  to  use 
an  air  brush  working  with  water  color  for  any 
other  medium  than  water  color.  Always  remem- 
ber that  the  main  thing,  in  caring  for  an  air  brush, 
is  to  keep  it  thoroughly  clean  and  well  washed  out 
at  all  times. 

In  regard  to  using  the  reamer,  we  believe  that 
it  should  only  be  used  as  a last  resort.  When  cold 
water  will  not  clean  out  the  instrument,  use  warm 
water,  or  even  diluted  ammonia.  Should  the 
brush  remain  clogged,  and  unworkable,  take  out 
the  needle,  fill  up  the  cup  with  clean  water,  care- 
fully insert  the  reamer,  and  turn  it  a few  times, 
meanwhile  pressing  on  the  valve  in  order  to  blow 
the  water  through  the  brush.  This  generally 
succeeds  in  removing  obstructions. 

Spattering  or  spitting  from  the  air  brush  (as  it 


Page  Eleven 


is  called)  is  caused,  either,  by  the  color  in  the  cup 
being  too  thick,  or  by  the  cup  being  partly  clogged. 
This  will  very  easily  happen  if  color  is  allowed  to 
dry  in  the  cup,  because  of  the  gum  which  forms  a 
part  of  all  water  colors  and  which,  when  dry, 
becomes  very  hard  and  clogs  the  cup  badly. 

If  the  air  will  pass  through,  but  no  color  passes, 
either  the  cup  is  clogged  or  the  tip-opening  is 
choked  and  they  must  be  cleaned  out  as  we  have 
before  explained. 

If,  upon  pressing  down  the  valve,  no  air  passes 
through  the  brush,  either  the  air  passage  is  ob- 
structed with  foreign  matter — it  may  be  dirt — or 
something  is  wrong  with  the  valve  itself.  These 
matters  can  be  looked  into  by  taking  the  instru- 
ment apart. 

Before  attaching  the  air  brush  to  the  rubber 
air  tube,  it  is  always  advisable  to  allow  the  air  to 
blow  through  the  rubber  tube  in  full  force,  so  that 
any  obstruction  or  dirt  may  be  blown  out.  In 
the  case  of  using  new  tubing,  this  is  especially 
necessary  on  account  of  the  loose,  white  powder 
with  which  the  rubber  tube  is  coated.  In  damp, 
humid  weather  it  is  necessary  occasionally  to  dis- 
connect the  instrument,  and  blow  out  the  moisture 
which  condenses  from  the  air  and  collects  in  the 
air  pipes.  It  is  better  to  have  an  air  pressure  that 
is  uniform  than  to  have  one  that  varies.  A pres- 
sure of  from  25  to  30  lbs.  per  sq.  inch  is  about  right 
for  average  air  brush  work.  Where  considerable 
work  has  to  be  done,  either  an  electric  pump 
should  be  used  or  a carbonic  gas  outfit.  Dust  and 
dirt  should  be  carefully  kept  out  of  the  color  one 
is  using,  especial  pains  being  taken  to  prevent 
loose  hairs  from  water  color  brushes  getting  into 
the  color  cup  and  clogging  up  the  air-brush  pas- 
sages. Always  protect  the  end  of  the  needle  from 
being  touched,  as  it  is  very  easily  bent  or  damaged 
by  coming  in  contact  with  anything.  If  the  needle 
point,  which  is  extremely  fine,  becomes  bent,  it 
will  cause  the  spray  of  color  to  be  coarse  and  un- 
even. It  is  a good  plan,  when  purchasing  an  air 
brush,  to  secure  a protecting  cap,  which  slips  over 
the  tip  of  the  air  brush  and  protects  it  from  damage 
when  not  in  use. 

There  are  three  systems  for  compressing  or 
furnishing  compressed  air  for  the  air  brush. 

These  are  the  foot  pump,  which  is  almost  obso- 
lete at  the  present  time  and  not  worth  discussing; 
the  carbonic  gas  outfit  and  the  electric  pump. 

The  carbonic  gas  outfit  is  a narrow,  upright 
steel  drum  containing  very  highly  compressed  air, 
sufficient  to  supply  one  air  brush  for  a month  or 
six  weeks,  using  it  three  or  four  hours  a day.  It  is 
a very  economical  outfit  and  quite  popular  among 
artists  who  just  need  the  use  of  compressed  air 
occasionally.  These  compressed  air  drums  are 


furnished  with  a reducing  valve  and  gauge,  so  that 
one  can  reduce  the  very  high  pressure  down  to  a 
lower  workable  one.  In  using  the  carbonic  gas 
outfit,  it  is  necessary  to  open  up  the  drain  cock 
about  once  in  three  months  and  blow  out  the 
accumulation  of  moisture  and  other  matter.  This 
will  keep  the  inside  of  the  drain  from  rusting  and, 
by  getting  rid  of  the  undesirable,  greasy  water; 
save  the  working  parts  of  your  air  brush  from 
contamination,  and  perhaps  prevent  a few  grease 
spots  from  soiling  your  art  work. 

A few  instructions  are  necessary  in  order  to 
successfully  handle  the  carbonic  gas  outfit  and 
avoid  any  trouble  therefrom.  Remember,  the 
drum  as  received  from  the  company  which  supplies 
them,  is  charged  with  a very  high  pressure,  and 
while  there  is  no  danger  in  its  use,  at  the  same  time 
certain  instructions  must  be  followed.  In  the 
first  place,  when  you  connect  the  reducing  valve 
to  the  drum,  use  one  or  two  washers  in  the  connec- 
tion, so  as  to  prevent  any  leakage.  After  making 
this  connection,  close  the  air  cock  on  the  regulator 
(which  connects  with  the  air  brush  tubing)  and 
screw  downward  or  outward  the  regulating  screw 
until  all  pressure  is  removed  from  it.  If  this 
screw  should  accidentally  be  withdrawn,  you  must 
replace  it,  giving  it  a couple  of  turns  inward  until 
some  back  pressure  is  felt.  Next,  turn  on  the  gas 
with  wrench  by  opening  the  valve  in  the  top  of 
the  drum.  The  valve  is  protected  generally  by  a 
large  hexagonal  ring  enclosing  it  and  has  a square 
stem  about  five-eighths  of  an  inch  wide.  Your 
wrench  has  a square  opening  at  about  the  center 
of  it,  while  the  openings  at  either  end  are  used  to 
attach  the  regulator  to  the  drum.  After  the  gas 
has  been  turned  on,  frequently  no  pressure  will 
show  on  the  gauge,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the 
regulating  screw  has  relieved  all  pressure.  If  the 
dial  shows  any  pressure,  wait  until  the  indicator 
stops  moving  before  increasing  the  pressure.  The 
pressure  is  increased  by  screwing  the  regulating 
screw  to  the  right  and  slowly  inward.  The  more 
the  regulating  screw  is  turned  inward,  the  higher 
the  pressure  becomes.  This  operation  must  be 
done  very  slowly,  so  you  do  not  increase  the  pres- 
sure above  what  you  need,  which  is  between  20 
and  30  lbs. 

The  most  important  matter  in  this  whole  busi- 
ness is  never  to  screw  outward  the  regulating  screw 
or  valve  seat  while  any  pressure  shows  on  the 
gauge  dial.  Otherwise  you  are  liable  to  seriously 
damage  the  whole  outfit.  As  an  example,  if  you 
want  a pressure  of  only  twenty  pounds  and  the 
gauge  shows  thirty  pounds,  immediately  shut  off 
the  gas  at  the  drum.  Do  not  attempt  to  get  a 
lower  pressure  by  screwing  the  regulating  screw 
outward,  until  the  gas  has  been  shut  off  completely 
at  the  drum,  and  allowed  to  exhaust  in  the  regu- 
lator, by  opening  the  air  cock  to  the  rubber  tube 


Page  Twelve 


which  leads  to  the  air  brush.  When  this  pressure 
is  exhausted  no  pressure  will  show  on  the  dial  of 
the  gauge  and  you  may  proceed  again,  as  you  have 
just  been  instructed,  to  obtain  the  necessary  air 
pressure. 

After  the  regulating  screw  has  been  adjusted 
to  a certain  pressure,  which  will  show  on  the  dial 
of  the  gauge,  it  will  never  again  be  necessary  to 
readjust  the  regulating  screw.  You  may  now 
connect  up  your  rubber  tubing  from  the  air  brush, 
and,  by  opening  the  air  cock,  are  ready  to  work. 
It  is  always  advisable,  when  you  are  through 
work  for  the  day,  to  shut  off  the  gas  at  the  drum, 
in  order  to  check  any  gas  leakage  that  might  be 
possible. 

By  following  the  foregoing  instructions,  the 
student  will  never  have  any  difficulties  in  using 
and  handling  the  liquid  carbonic  gas  outfit  for 
obtaining  compressed  air. 

The  electric  air  pump  is  very  useful  when 
several  artists  are  to  be  supplied  with  compressed 
air. 

This  outfit  consists  of  a motor  connected  to  an 
air  pump  and  generally  has  an  automatic  cut-off, 
which  can  be  set  so  the  electric  current  will  auto- 
matically be  shut  off  when  the  air  pressure  reaches 
a desired  point.  This  automatic  cut-off  can  be 
adjusted  to  cut  off  at  any  desired  pressure.  The 
connection  can  be  made  by  the  regular  standard 
plug  to  any  electric  light  socket.  It  is  a good  plan 
to  turn  off  the  current  when  the  pump  is  not  in 
use.  The  combined  motor  and  pump  should  rest 
on  a firm  foundation.  A piece  of  board  about  one 
and  a half  inches  in  thickness  and  of  the  necessary 
length  and  width  makes  a first-class  foundation 
base.  To  deaden  the  vibration  caused  by  the 
motor  and  air-pump,  a sheet  of  felt,  rubber  or 
carpet  should  be  placed  between  this  foundation 
and  the  floor.  An  ideal  arrangement,  which  will 
keep  out  dust,  etc.,  from  the  pump  and  motor, 
can  be  made  of  wood  planks  built  in  the  form  of  a 
closet  just  big  enough  to  enclose  the  apparatus, 
and  with  a door  placed  so  one  can  get  at  the 
mechanism  for  oiling,  etc.  The  bearings  should 
be  oiled  daily  when  the  machine  is  in  operation; 
not  much  at  a time,  but  frequently.  A few  drops 
of  oil  in  each  bearing  once  a day  is  ample.  The 
motor  is  generally  supplied  with  grease  cups  and 
does  not  need  oiling  when  so  supplied.  The 
grease  cups  should  be  examined  about  every  three 
months  and,  if  necessary,  be  refilled. 

The  belt  connecting  the  small  motor  pulley  with 
the  pump  fly-wheel  sometimes  becomes  loose  on 
account  of  its  stretching,  causing  it  to  slip  when 
the  motor  is  started.  Should  it  do  this,  the  belt 
should  be  tightened,  either  by  shortening  it,  or 
by  loosening  the  bolts  that  fasten  the  motor  to  the 
base,  and  pulling  back  the  motor  far  enough  to 


tighten  the  belt,  then  tightening  up  the  bolts, 
which  generally  work  in  slots  in  the  motor  base, 
allowing  this  to  be  done. 

Preparing  The  Work  For  Air-Brush 
Treatment 

We  will  now  take  up  the  matter  of  retouching 
photographs  by  the  air  brush.  After  the  surface 
of  the  photograph  is  prepared  for  retouching,  as 
explained  elsewhere  under  the  head  of  retouching, 
a sheet  of  prepared  frisket  paper  is  laid  smoothly 
on  the  face  of  the  photograph  and  rubbed  down 
very  carefully  to  make  a smooth,  even  contact  all 
over  the  photo.  Frisket  paper  is  a very  thin,  oiled, 
transparent  paper,  used  as  a stencil  paper,  and 
may  be  purchased  in  sheets  from  most  dealers 
in  art  materials ; this  must  be  coated  on  one  side 
with  a liquid  preparation  of  rubber  which  is  dis- 
solved in  benzol  to  about  the  consistency  of 
syrup.  The  art  material  dealer  usually  has  on 
sale  a suitable  rubber  cement.  While  most 
of  the  high-grade  makes  work  well,  not  all  rub- 
ber cement  will  do,  as  some  have  a tendency  to 
stain.  The  B.  F.  Goodrich  Co.’s  Rubber  Cem- 
ent No.  4 has  been  found  very  satisfactory. 
Some  artists  prefer  to  prepare  their  own  cement. 
Pure  Para  short  fibre  rubber  must  be  used.  It 
is  cut  into  small  squares  and  added  to  the  ben- 
zol until  the  proper  consistency  is  reached 
when  dissolved.  A sheet  of  the  paper  is  coated 
on  one  side  with  this  liquid  rubber  by  means  of  a 
large,  flat  brush.  Quite  a heavy  coat  should  be 
put  on,  because,  when  it  dries  out  and  the  benzol 
has  evaporated,  there  will  be  quite  a thin  coat  of 
rubber  on  the  paper.  When  it  is  to  be  used,  it 
may  be  necessary  to  take  a small  wad  of  cotton 
saturated  with  benzol  and  lightly  rub  over  the  sur- 
face to  soften  up  the  rubber  so  it  will  be  tacky 
enough  to  adhere  to  the  surface  of  the  photograph. 
After  being  rubbed  down  smoothly,  cut  stencils 
with  a very  sharp  knife  point  for  those  portions 
where  the  air  brush  is  to  be  used,  and  remove  from 
the  different  parts  all  that  has  to  be  done  in  one 
certain  tone  and  repeat  the  process  for  the  other 
tones;  your  color  should  have  been  previously 
mixed  for  the  different  tones  as  explained  else- 
where under  the  head  of  retouching.  On  remov- 
ing that  part  of  the  frisket  paper  or  stencil  where 
you  are  about  to  work,  lightly  rub  your  finger 
with  a rolling  motion  over  the  surface  to  re- 
move any  particles  of  rubber  that  may  adhere 
to  the  print.  As  a rule,  when  you  lift  the  cut- 
out piece  of  frisket  paper  off  the  photo,  it  leaves 
the  photograph  quite  clean  and  free  from  rub- 
ber. It  is  a good  plan  to  lightly  rub  the  finger 
over  the  surface  anyway,  to  be  sure  that  no 
rubber  is  left  there,  otherwise  your  color  would 
not  adhere  to  the  photo  in  those  places  where  any 
rubber  may  not  have  been  removed.  This  rubber 
is  absolutely  harmless  to  any  photo  or  drawing  if 


Page  Thirteen 


it  is  mixed  right  and  it  should  leave  no  stain  or 
blemish  on  the  work. 

The  small  details  are  generally  finished  in  free- 
hand with  a small  brush.  Professional  retouchers 
generally  use  a frisket  knife  for  cutting  frisket; 
it  consists  of  a wooden  handle  a little  larger  than  a 
lead  pencil,  with  a steel  strip  inserted  in  the  middle 
of  it.  This  steel  is  about  ^ of  an  inch  wide  and  is 
sharpened  on  an  emery  wheel  to  a long,  tapering 
V-shaped  point,  sharp  on  both  sides  and  kept  very 
keen  by  rubbing  on  an  oil  stone.  Care  must  be 
taken  to  cut  through  the  frisket  with  a very  light 
pressure  so  as  to  cut  through  the  frisket  and  its 
coat  of  rubber  only,  and  not  cut  or  damage  the 
surface  of  the  photo.  This  sounds  difficult,  but 
with  practice  is  easy  to  do.  Any  small-bladed 
knife,  such  as  the  small  blade  of  the  regulation 
pocket  knife,  will  answer  very  well  as  a substitute 
for  a frisket  knife,  provided  the  point  is  kept  with 
a good,  keen,  cutting  edge. 

Chart  4,  Sec.  3 — Air  Brush 

The  chart  accompanying  this  section  gives  a 
few  examples  of  work  done  by  the  air  brush,  which 
will  be  explained  consecutively.  These  examples 
show,  in  an  elementary  manner,  the  various  kinds 
of  work  that  may  be  accomplished.  A volume 
might  be  filled  with  illustrations  of  work  that  have 
been  executed  by  means  of  an  air  brush,  but  out- 
side of  the  fact  that  it  would  be  very  interesting 
on  account  of  the  variety  of  subjects,  the  student 
would  learn  no  more  of  the  way  in  which  the 
instrument  would  be  handled,  but,  in  fact,  would 
be  bewildered  with  the  assortment.  Keeping  in 
line  with  our  policy  of  showing  how  to  accomplish 
things  in  as  simple  a way  as  possible,  we  present 
to  the  reader  these  various  methods  of  working, 
feeling  sure  that  if  he  will  give  the  necessary  study 
and  practice  to  them,  he  will  be  on  the  right  road 
to  success.  Any  future  work  he  would  undertake 
to  handle  would  be  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
repetition  or  combination  in  some  form  or  ether 
of  the  examples  we  herewith  present. 

In  regard  to  the  various  makes  of  air  brushes, 
we  have  illustrated  in  Figs.  1,  2 and  3,  the  three 
leading  makes  of  air  brushes,  which  are  the  Wold, 
the  Fountain,  and  the  Paasche.  As  to  which  is 
best  to  use,  we  will  say  that  each  kind  will  do 
good  work,  and  each  would  probably  have  a good 
word  spoken  for  it  by  the  artist  using  it.  A great 
deal  depends  on  one’s  getting  used  to  the  instru- 
ment. After  one  has  become  familiar  with  the 
workings  and  handling  of  his  air  brush,  he  feels 
more  sure  of  what  he  can  accomplish  with  it,  and 
certainly  can  do  better  work  than  he  could  when 
he  first  started  out.  This  is  true  of  everything, 
but  it  is  especially  true  of  an  air  brush,  which  is  a 
delicate  piece  of  mechanism  and  requires  a little 


practice  in  order  to  get  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  it. 

Figure  4 is  a rectangular  form  shaded  dark  at 
both  ends,  blending  down  to  a light  center.  You 
will  notice  that  the  top  end  is  shaded  darker  than 
the  other  end. 

Figure  5 represents  a panel  shaded  from  dark  at 
one  end  to  light  at  the  other.  The  principal  point 
to  be  followed  in  this  and  in  Fig.  4 is  to  make  the 
blending  of  tone  even  and  gradual. 

Figure  6 shows  a panel  of  even  tone.  The 
student  should  endeavor  to  apply  his  color  very 
evenly  in  this  example,  as  it  is  important  in  the 
majority  of  cases  that  an  even  tone  be  laid.  It  is 
not  an  easy  matter  to  apply  an  even  tone,  espe- 
cially if  the  area  being  covered  is  a large  one. 
Backgrounds  for  posters  are  frequently  handled 
in  this  way,  and  great  care  must  be  taken  to  avoid 
any  unevenness  of  appearance.  Work  in  a good 
light  so  you  may  see  well  what  you  are  doing,  for 
a poor  light  is  deceiving  if  you  are  covering  a large 
surface,  and  especially  if  the  color  desired  is  not  a 
very  dark  one.  A light,  transparent  tint  is  the 
hardest  to  handle,  while  dark  tints  are  easiest — 
that  is,  from  the  point  of  evenness  of  color. 

Figure  7.  This  is  a photograph  of  a polished 
copper  percolator,  such  as  would  be  illustrated  in 
a catalog  of  household  goods,  and  is  a fair  specimen 
of  the  average  quality  of  photograph  furnished 
to  the  artist  for  retouching. 

Figure  8 shows  the  retouched  photo  originally 
represented  in  Fig.  7 and  illustrates  to  a remark- 
able extent  the  transfomation  given  by  a skillful 
use  of  the  air  brush  on  such  a subject.  By  careful 
observation  the  student  will  see  where  and  in  what 
cases  it  will  be  necessary  to  bring  up  the  detail  by 
the  freehand  brush.  Observe  carefully  the  direc- 
tion of  the  light,  which  in  this  case  is  on  the  right 
side,  so  that  the  necessary  high  lights  may  be 
placed  in  their  correct  locations. 

In  air-brushing  this  photograph,  frisket  paper 
must  be  used  to  localize  our  air  brush  work  and 
protect  those  other  portions  that  will  be  handled 
later.  We  have  already  described  elsewhere  in 
this  section  the  use  of  frisket  paper.  After  the 
deta'ls  have  been  carefully  worked  up  and  the  air 
brush  work  on  the  body  completed,  protect  the 
work  with  frisket  and  put  in  a background  some- 
what on  the  order  of  the  one  we  show.  As  we  have 
before  explained,  backgrounds  are  of  no  set  style, 
but  are  largely  left  to  the  originality  of  the  artist. 

Figure  9 represents  the  shading  of  a sphere  or 
ball.  This  is  a matter  that  requires  careful  execu- 
tion. Carefully  blow  in  the  shade  required,  leav- 
ing the  necessary  reflected  light  on  the  left  hand 
side.  Be  careful  to  show  the  high  light  in  the 


Page  Fourteen 


proper  position,  letting  the  white  of  the  cardboard 
or  paper  show  through  sufficiently  to  form  this 
high  light. 

Figure  10  is  the  representation  of  a shaded 
cylinder.  This  is  high-lighted  on  the  left  side. 
In  blowing  in  the  shade,  be  careful  to  leave  the 
reflected  light  on  the  right  side,  and  upon  comple- 
tion blow  in  a little  dark  vignette  on  each  side,  as 
shown  in  the  example. 

Figures  11  and  12  show  a shoe  drawing  in  two 
stages.  The  outline  drawing  of  the  shoe  (see  Fig. 
1 2)  is  made  in  pencil  and  carefully  inked  in.  After 
being  cleaned  off  with  the  rubber  to  remove  pencil 
marks,  cut  a frisket  and  carefully  blow  in  the 


necessary  shading  for  the  cloth  top  and  for  the 
leather  vamp,  finishing  up  the  laces,  eyelets,  the 
necessary  stitching  and  high  lights  by  hand.  If 
one  will  study  shoe  illustrations  it  will  be  noticed 
that  there  is  a standard  way  of  making  these  draw- 
ings which  has  been  adopted  to  suit  the  special 
needs  of  the  shoe  trade.  It  is  not  a difficult 
matter,  however,  for  a beginner  to  understand 
this  standard  way  and  with  a little  practice  he 
should  be  able  to  make  very  creditable  drawings. 
These  drawings  must  be  clean-cut  and  sharply 
drawn,  and  also  carefully  and  precisely  shaded, 
as  may  be  noted  in  any  good  catalog  of  boots  and 
shoes. 


